Customer Reviews

The Mahler Symphonies: An Owner's Manual (includes 1 CD)

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Hurwitz breaks down Mahler's nine symphonies plus his song cycle "The Song of the Earth" into their parts as these contribute to the whole; and the parts too are broken down for their development, tone, and instruments. Analyses and commentary mingle with frequent metaphoric, near-poetic, evocations of musical passages. In the Fifth Movement of Symphony No. 5, "Horn and woodwinds unfold a series of perky little tunes...." In the Second Movement, "As this climax dies away trailing clouds of strings and horns, the woodwinds slither back in with sinister whirring scales." Hurwitz also gives attention to the spiritual ideas and the emotions embodied in Mahler's music. The author of "Beethoven or Bust: A Practical Guide to Learning About and Listening to Great Music," Hurwitz writes about music in a style that is suitable for readers of all ages from young adults and up.

David Hurwitz has written a marvelous guide for the classical music listener who wants to get more out of Mahler's symphonies but: a) lacks the ability to follow the music him/herself, or make sense of it; and b) finds that CD and program notes do not provide sufficiently detailed description, or are too technical to be understandable. The author provides lengthy but non-technical descriptions of the music as it progresses, keeping the listener on track and ready for what comes next. Major melodies or tunes are identified by ad hoc names (the "kletzmer," the "Alma," etc.). Major rhythms are identified for the reader-listener in the most basic terms (i.e. "dum dum dadum dum"), but it works! Hurwitz eschews biographical background in favor of discussion of the form and content of the music itself. Even if the author fails to convert you to a Mahlerian (and he certainly seems to be one himself), his book will deepen your appreciation for this formerly "much abused" composer.

My complaints are few. In his enthusiasm the author has a tendency to confuse the words "literal" and "figurative" such that, at one point in the book he describes the orchestra as "literally falling over a cliff" or words to that effect; which, for the sake of the musicians' health and casualty insurance premiums I hope did not happen. I wish that discussions of form and interpretations of meaning had been reserved for the front of each chapter, directly following the introduction, so the chronological description of the music had not been interrupted. Strangely, the author, who is not bashful about expressing his opinions, seems surprisingly hesitant to divulge his extra-musical interpretations of the music. Finally, Hurwitz is a most uncritical critic, defending Mahler from every criticism, even those that, to my ears, are justifiable.

In addition to the book the purchaser receives a CD with one-movement excerpts from four Mahler symphonies (#'s 1, 2, 5 and 7). The guides to these four movements contain exact time references to these CD performances for greater ease in following along.

Buyer beware: you'll find you'll want to acquire CD's of Mahler symphonies you don't presently own (I bought #'s 6 and 7), or purchase other versions if yours don't reveal all the twitters, birdcalls, or cowbells itemized in the book.

Highly recommended.

Hurwitz has left behind a long trail of snotty, obnoxious, biased, off-base, and infuriating music criticism, particularly on Mahler recordings. Some of his views are extremely dubious, such as his profound misunderstanding of the work of conductor Jascha Horenstein and Sir John Barbirolli. This alone is enough to cast doubt on Hurwitz' ear for Mahler.

Even if you don't take issue with this obnoxious trail of pungent waste, the issue here is tone and style that, for me, spoil the value of what he has to say. (This also applies to Hurwitz' Shostakovich "owner's manual", and anything else he writes.) Do you want your Mahler "tour guide" to be a rude Howard Stern/Rush Limbaugh type? From someone who can so arrogantly and stupidly dismiss the career of Claudio Abbado as "nothing of interest"?

Do you want your information from someone who talks down to you like a child in a patronizing, lowbrow, silly chatter similar to something you get from a Food Network host? Or would you prefer some class and taste from a Mahler scholar, whose presentation is worthy of the music?

If the former, Hurwitz is your guy, good luck. If the latter, go directly to these instead:

For walk-throughs of Mahler's works---direct Hurwitz competitors (that start from the perspective of the symphonies, incorporating biography along the way), consider:

1. "Gustav Mahler: An Introduction to His Music" by Deryck Cooke, whose work bringing the unfinished Mahler 10th to the world was a great achievement for music. Cooke's book, originally written as a booklet for Mahler's centenary, is short and concise, like a book of good liner notes for the layperson. It is indeed an "introduction": a few paragraphs per movement, a few pages per symphony but he manages to cover a great deal in a short amount of space.

2. "Gustav Mahler: The Symphonies" by Constantin Floros. Floros is for more ambitious listeners who want thorough analysis. Extensive historical and musical sources are cross referenced. This book is ideal for experienced listeners and music students, but still not intimidating for everyone else.

3. Highest recommendation for Michael Steinberg's "The Symphony", the prototype of the kind of blow by blow listener's guide that Hurwitz thinks he's improved on, but hasn't. Steinberg breaks down the symphonies of many composers, not just Mahler. But the extensive chapter on Mahler symphonies could be a standalone book by itself. It offers detailed breakdowns of each work,in a conversational style appealing to both a layperson or a seasoned listener. For those willing to buy a bigger book that isn't just on Mahler, Steinberg does the job as well as any.

4. For a bit more biography, Michael Kennedy's "Mahler" and Egon Gartenberg's "Mahler:The Man and His Music" are also concise books that are 50% biography and 50% analysis. Of these two, Gartenberg does into more detail on the individual works, while Kennedy's is a more general overview of Mahler's style within the context of the biography.

Any of these books will do the job, and none are annoying.

David Hurwitz's THE MAHLER SYMPHONIES is aptly subtitled "An Owner's Manual." The book is intended for people who already know they like Mahler's music, and want to know more about it.

Have you ever met a birder--one of those unusual people so devoted to the study of birds that they can look up into the trees and spot several different birds, where you and I would be lucky to see even one? Well, that's what Hurwitz is for Mahler devotees. He looks beyond a simple introduction to each symphony, and tells us what is going on--from the instruments involved, to the ideas or feelings being painted in sound.

At first I thought it might be "kinda hokey" that the book comes with a CD inside the back cover. But bless his soul, Hurwitz was right to do it this way. Using the CD tracks, he points to things like "a sinister little tremolo (18:36)" that might have been overlooked without the CD accompaniment to illustrate the written word.

What really delighted me were the tables at the end of the book's discussion of Mahler's symphonies. In these tables, Hurwitz categorizes the symphonies according to their content of:

"Marches and Dances,"

"Screams, Crashes, and Thuds,"

"Appearances of the 'Aspiration' or 'Redemption' Theme

"Mahlerian Humor"

"Large-scale Structure"

If you are an admirer of Mahler's music, these tables will indicate to you that David Hurwitz "gets it"--he understands that Mahler's music is much more than sounds, or a simple concert performance by an orchestra. Mahler left behind the form-fitting rules of "Classical Music" because he had something bigger to say about life. David Hurwitz will help you appreciate Mahler even more than you already do!

I was initially rather disappointed in this book given the mostly great reviews. I even gave it three stars rather than 4. In catering to a more general audience, I thought it ended up being too vague and impressionistic for my taste. Lacking any references to specific measures or rehearsals in the score, I found it often hard to follow what exactly he was referring to. With the modern Internet, it is easy to download free orchestral scores, and I saw no reason not to make some attempt to refer to the score in examining the music. I guess I was looking for something closer to Grove's "Beethoven and his 9 Symphonies". I ended up buying a used copy of the book "Gustav Mahler: The Symphonies" by Floros which seems to be much more specific. (A current paperback edition of Floros' book is available; though not at Amazon for some reason. Amazon only has an entry for the out of print editions.)

The above is mostly what I originally wrote. On second thought, however, I think this book is a good complement to a more in depth work such as that of Floros mentioned above. I really would not want to discourage anyone from buying this book. And for anyone who is not really versed in reading music, this book would be a great guide.

... and hopefully Mr. Hurwitz's words strenghen the fact that Mahler is one of the greatest composers of all time (and he is my top favorite composer) - not just through vastness and complexity, but also through "representing the world", being universal, escorting humanity through music like Beethoven.

Just reading certain passages which seems to coincide what I exactly thing about Mahler's remarkable musical messages (especially in the triumphant Symphony No. 2 and the apocalyptic Symphony No. 9) put me to tears.

Whether you're obsessed with Mahler, or want to understand his musical words, buy it!!!

I hugely enjoy David Hurwitz' cd reviews on Classics Today, which are witty, incisive and knowledgeable, with a refreshing absence of undue reverence for the big names in the music industry (record labels and conductors alike) and a total lack of the conspicuous chauvinism that German reviewers display. On the strength of those reviews I have bought many a cd and the choices I made that way have seldom been disappointing.

But on this book: I partly agree with reviewer A. Johnston when he remarks that "Mahler's expressive and easthetic motivations" are not dealt with. What would also have been helpful are extracts from the symphonies' scores to illustrate certain passages (as in Truscott's book on Franz Schmidt's symphonies), so that you can not only hear (on the accompanying cd) but also see the complexity of Mahler's music.

Since in Mahler's music so many things go on, the book is cetainly valuable to the listener since it helps him / her(?) to understand what is happening and how this connects to what went on before and what to expect next. I still find myslef consulting the book every time I listen to a Mahler symphony and I find that it adds to my listening pleasure, so much of what Hurwitz set out to do is achieved.

Sort of a play by play guide for each of Mahler's symphonies. Useful to have while listening if you want to get more out of your listening experience. Some background information is also provided, which is helpful.

Good book, only gripe is that the author goes into too much detail describing the music itself (for example telling what instruments are doing what) I think what I am looking for is more of an analysis of the symphonies. Hope this helps